Kerry tear up Treaty in easy victory

Having turned 28 last Friday, Kerry captain Colm Cooper gave a football masterclass, scoring seven points, as he led his team to an 11-point victory over Limerick at the Gaelic Grounds.

A superior Kerry arrived in Limerick on Saturday afternoon expecting a challenge, but left completely untested after the home side simply failed to turn up. It was men against boys.

A means to an end in some ways, as Kerry's attention will now turn to the Munster final against age-old foes Cork early next month.

As manager Jack O'Connor explained: "On paper they (Cork) look the team to beat. They appear to have the strongest panel in the country and they are going particularly well. It's a big incentive for them to come down to Killarney and try to turn us over.

"It's a big game for our fellas. Cork haven't won in Killarney since the 1990s and we certainly don't want it to happen under our watch."

The dangerous Kerry attack had a field day against the Shannonsiders. Kieran Donaghy returned to form, especially in the first half, with some brilliant high fielding, while Declan O'Sullivan, Darran O'Sullivan and Kieran O'Leary all got in on the act.

Kerry raced into a 1-10 to 0-1 lead after 30 minutes, with Darran O'Sullivan's nimble footwork and soccer-style finish after 12 minutes a dagger through the Limerick challenge.

burst

And everything that could go wrong for Limerick did. Already without the injured John Galvin and Stephen Lucey, the home side lost main midfielder Jim O'Donovan to a hamstring injury in the first half, while his replacement Eoin Joy only lasted minutes before he too got injured.

"Eoin (Joy) could have made an impact and burst into the game, but within a minute he goes down with a hamstring injury. That just summed up our evening," Limerick manager Maurice Horan said.

"We made small inroads towards the end of the first half, but they opened us up again at the start of the second half. We needed to come out strong at the start of the second half but they really finished us off. That was it."

Limerick did finish the first half strongly, as Ger Collins' superb strike was added to by points from Johnny McCarthy and Collins himself, but Kerry still led 1-10 to 1-4 at the break.

The second half resembled a challenge game as Kerry scored at will.

Strong in the middle with Anthony Maher and Bryan Sheehan, all the breaks were gobbled up by Kerry men, resulting in attack after attack, as Limerick just sat off Gooch and Co, allowing them the freedom of Limerick city.

After O'Donovan pointed Limerick ahead after just 15 seconds, the green and gold juggernaut took over, with Donaghy a fulcrum in attack. Scoring Kerry's first point, he set up Darran O'Sullivan's goal and was involved in many more scores, as Kerry put Limerick under enormous pressure.

With points flowing from Cooper, Sheehan, Declan O'Sullivan and Darran O'Sullivan, this game was effectively over by the time Collins rattled the Kerry net for Limerick. Any chance Limerick had of staging an unlikely comeback was scuppered as Kerry outscored them by six points to one at the start of the second half.

Where this Kerry team stands right now, after facile wins over Tipperary and Limerick, is hard to say. The one worry is the concession of 3-9 -- a score that could win a lot of games -- against a less-than-potent Limerick strike force, but when Seanie Buckley and Seamus O'Neill banged home those two second-half Limerick goals, the game was already over.

Roll on Sunday, July 3, and the Munster final between the reigning provincial kings and the All-Ireland champions. Now that will be a game.